


Valley of the Low Sun

by suisseconfiture



Category: Tennis RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Attempted Murder, Developing Friendships, Eventual Romance, More tags to be added later!, Murder, Murder Mystery, Suicide, Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-09
Packaged: 2019-09-11 21:50:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16860916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suisseconfiture/pseuds/suisseconfiture
Summary: Lungern, Switzerland, a sleepy town where nothing seems to happen. People live their lives with a sense of safety, letting their children out past dark without any fear.Until a dead body turns up, it seems that the town where nothing happened became the centre of a series of murders that no one could solve.So, the citizens decided to solve it themselves.





	1. Intro to a Small Town

Rain, it never seemed to stop in October. Lungern had to be one of the wettest places in Obwalden; maybe even in the entirety of Switzerland. There was hardly a sunny day in between the rain, as clouds dominated most of the time. Everyone missed summer, but made the most of the autumn while it was still there. 

 

The church bells rang at six in the morning initially, then again at eight to signal the start of morning mass. Juan Martín stood outside of the church, greeting people as they entered with a handshake, always with a calm smile on his face. 

 

No one could've imagined another priest conducting prayer every Sunday. 

 

The usual people came: Roger, Stan, Andrey, Alex, Nick, Denis, Diego, Fabio, David, Novak. Far too many to keep track of, but Juan did it with ease. 

 

He never missed a beat. 

 

The whole town was like that, knowing everyone and their brother on a first name basis. Many would say, once you come to Lungern, you check your privacy at the door. It wasn't a joke, moving to a small town truly meant you had no privacy. Many teenagers hated that, as they couldn't get away with anything. 

 

Nick was one of the people that hated it, but secretly loved it since everyone knew what he was doing. He was, to put it simply, a troublemaker. Words couldn't describe how much he enjoyed being the centre of attention. 

 

It was shocking that he was friends with Andrey and Alex, a translator and a cashier respectively, as they were known quite well for being well-mannered, kind boys. They saw another side of Nick; they had to have. 

 

As for local celebrities, Roger and Stan were among the best known in town; as well as Rafael, who was simply lovely to everyone. Even Novak was quite popular when he was there, only for two to three months, however. 

 

He gave back to the town actively, paying for repairs on buildings and donating money to local shops. 

 

There was a special spirit in the town that everyone was determined not to let die. 

 

It mixed many different cultures into a very small area, but it managed to work. Many ethnic restaurants opened over the span of five years, including Italian, Albanian, Spanish and Croatian establishments. 

 

Pierre-Hugues Herbert also gave Lungern a good name, having been on Swiss television, performing a solo song in French during a news broadcast. No matter where he went, be it Lausanne, Lucerne, Paris, Utrecht or New York, he always came back to Lungern. 

 

Despite not being born there, he would be quick to tell you that it's his home. 

 

Nico, Pierre's best friend, was the same. He gave back to his community in the form of a clothing store, bringing jobs to the town that they so desperately needed.

 

On that particular day, even Stefanos turned up for mass, surprising considering people rarely saw him out and about. He didn't talk much, but people couldn't help but be extremely fond of him. Whether it be his beautiful, glowing brown eyes or his charming, Greek looks that sent the girls in town into a frenzy, he carried himself very particularly. 

 

Brevity was the soul of wit with him. 

 

Grigor took time out of his day to come to church, too, even though he was sure he'd have to say a thousand Our Father's if Juan knew what he did in his free time. Everyone knew, however. It was no secret that he was definitely a ladies' man. Every girl wanted him, every man wanted to be him. 

 

Fabio and David came in a pair, though they were entirely opposites of one another. David was a Belgian language teacher that worked at the local primary school, teaching French, and Fabio owned an Italian restaurant. Another person tagged along as well, Diego, who worked at the restaurant. 

 

Roger owned the local tennis club, teaching children how to play and enjoy the sport; he enlisted the help of Denis Shapovalov to teach the younger kids when he was working with the older ones. 

 

Stan, the only other Swiss out of their group, owned the sole real estate lease for the town. Anything and everything that related to houses or maintenance would be directed right to him. 

 

Rafa never came to church, as he identified as agnostic but not openly. He didn't mind how religious the town was, it almost made him happy seeing how such a sleepy little town could come to life on Sundays. His restaurant always served traditional Spanish food for 'holy days', which was extremely popular. 

 

Sascha had to walk to mass that day, as Mischa went to work for a teaching coordination meeting in Sarnen. He didn't mind since he met up with Dominic along the way. All the two talked about during the walk were the new animals that had arrived at the shelter, one being a Pomeranian and another being, according to Domi 'the cutest beagle I've ever seen'. Even though Sascha already had a dog, he always wanted to get another one. 

 

Mischa always said no, though.

 

Andy also was running late, having to catch a ride with Nikoloz and Milos. Milos usually closed his charity shop early on Sundays, so he could spend some time alone during the evening. Sometimes, he'd go out with his fellow Canadian Denis and, when he was in town, Vasek. 

 

Nikoloz had a ballet class to teach at twelve, which left plenty of time after mass to get the grocery shopping done and to pick up his wife from the airport. 

 

On the way, they also picked up Kyle, a student that was living there to study the meteorological patterns of lakeside towns. He'd been living there for around two months by then, but he was already in love with the sense of community. It was a feeling that he never got in England. 

 

The last four people to show up were Kevin, Karen, Marcelo and Mate. 

 

Kevin was off for the week, having finished his last project that focused on removing litter around the area. He was gone for five days to Corsica and had just come back the day before, his wife Kelsey staying with family in Chicago to finish a golf tour. 

 

Karen never missed a day of church, finding it to be a time where he didn't have to worry about anything except himself. It was one of the highlights of his week. Being that he owned a business online, it took up a lot of his free time, and his wife worked out of town. Every moment he could get with her, with friends or just by himself was time he cherished deeply. 

 

Marcelo, on the other hand, was rarely in town. He was an international pilot for Lufthansa, going absolutely everywhere under the sun. Just that week, he'd been in Finland and had only gotten back on Monday. His next flight scheduled him to go to Toronto, but that was two weeks from that day. It was time to just relax.

 

As for Mate, he only had so much time to go from church and back to his restaurant. It was a well-known Croatian restaurant, and he was very picky about his schedule. If anything ran even a minute behind schedule, he would surely have a conniption. Luckily for him, the service only lasted around thirty minutes, sometimes even less than that. 

 

Juan was excellent at getting all the things he needed to say out as quick as possible.

 

The three people that were missing were Kei, Daniil and Marin. 

 

Kei was in Japan, Daniil in France and Marin in Croatia, all spending time with family. 

 

As the pews filled with people, the chatter amongst them began to subside gradually as Juan took to the front of the church and behind the podium. A Bible sat open in front of him. 

 

The service began as it normally did, speaking in memory of people who had died over the week in surrounding towns. 

 

Within 23 minutes, the service ended just about as quickly as it began. The citizens of the town would go back to their lives, their responsibilities and jobs. 

 

Pierre went onto the first train to Geneva as soon as it ended, giving Nico the required hug and kiss on the cheek before he departed. It was a tradition by then.

 

Nikoloz and Milos left quite soon after, Andy hitching another ride so his wife wouldn't freak out on him for not taking their daughter to daycare early enough.

 

Like always, Rafa was at his restaurant preparing breakfast. He invited everyone to breakfast for free on Sundays, though his close friends could eat whenever they wanted before twelve in the afternoon. Nick, Andrey and Alex were the first three to get there, being able to have the fresh ensaimadas and hot chocolate. Andrey got his usual sweet porridge with dried fruit and a cappuccino. 

 

Rafa's was the best breakfast spot in town; perhaps even in the entire canton. Sascha and Domi came in around twenty minutes after the first trio; Sascha getting his daily order of scrambled eggs, toast, mixed berries and coffee. Domi, on the other hand, got a yoghurt parfait with granola and fruit, as well as a fresh churro. 

 

The entirety of the breakfast area was overrun with chatter; Nick and Alex fighting over the last ensaimada, Sascha complaining about Mischa and, when Roger came in with his two daughters and two sons, he was talking to them happily. 

 

Roger let his three children go ahead of him inside, with his son, Leo, sitting on his shoulders. Myla and Charlene ran to their table, Rafa seeing Roger entering and walking over with open arms. 

 

He let Leo down so he and Lenny could walk over to their sisters, giving the Spaniard the daily hug. 

 

"The whole family is here today," Rafa laughed, a big smile on his face as he pulled away and patted his shoulder. "Where is Mirka?"

 

"Oh she's at work," Roger returned the gesture as he glanced over to see if his children were all at the table. "The kids wanted to come so, why not, y'know?" 

 

"Well, I'm so happy you all here," Rafa nodded happily, leaning over with a small whisper. "I made double batch of churros just in case." 

 

They both let out a chuckle as they walked to the Federer table as a pair, Rafa taking the children's orders one by one before leaving them. 

 

Evgenija, Mischa's wife, came to eat breakfast with one of her girlfriends. While she walked from the doorway, she purposefully brushed her hand along Andrey's arm. 

 

It visibly unsettled him slightly as he paused from taking a spoonful of porridge in his mouth. Alex noticed and glanced over at the woman as she sat down at the table with her friends.

 

"God," The Australian mumbled, looking back at Andrey, "She's really, really into you." 

 

Andrey frowned as he shook his head, "I know, it's starting to freak me out." 

 

"She does that with any guy under the age of twenty-two," Alex shrugged, taking a bite of pastry, "She's a proper cougar."

 

"It's the hair, mate," Nick interjected and pointed to his own hair, which was extremely short and cropped, "Ladies love the long hair." 

 

"So, I have to cut all my hair off?"

 

"I mean I don't see any other options." 

 

Andrey laughed at that, as did Alex and Nick, all three going back to their original conversation.  

 

Domi was on his phone, checking the time and his Instagram feed, listening to Sascha ask the waiter for a refill on his coffee. He looked up from his phone and over at the German across the table. 

 

"Where's Mischa? I didn't see him this morning." He asked, tilting his head a bit. 

 

"Apparently there was some teachers' meeting," Sascha shrugged his shoulders as he took a sip of his black coffee, "He said he'd be back before dinner but I doubt it." 

 

"God, for a teacher he's really busy." Domi thought out loud as he found it a little odd, since David, a close friend of his, was also a teacher but wasn't nearly as busy. 

 

Stefanos walked inside, zipping his jacket up as he did. He stood at the entrance with a ten franc note in his hand, catching Rafa's attention; as well as Sascha's but the Greek didn't notice. 

 

"Stefanos!" He happily spoke, the same big smile on his face as he rushed over to hug him. It was quite obvious that Stefanos didn't want a hug, but he accepted it nonetheless. When Rafa pulled away, he turned around and picked up a plastic bag with a few takeaway containers inside from behind the counter. 

 

"What's the menu today, chef?" Stefanos asked, a slight of a smile on his face as he accepted it. 

 

"Ensaimadas and fruit for breakfast, brioche for almuerzo, tomato soup, pasta and chicken for lunch, then a salad for dinner and a slice of Swiss roll for dessert." Rafa listed it off just from memory, as he did it every day for the much younger Greek. 

 

"Thank you so much," Stefanos moved slightly so he could hold out the money, but Rafa shook his head. 

 

"Five francs, ten is too much, no?" He raised his eyebrows a bit but Stef almost hesitated. It made him feel a bit guilty. 

 

"Are you sure? I mean-" He paused, glancing down at the bag. "You make me food every day." 

 

"If I don't make you food, then you starve." Rafa once again shook his head, holding out his hand. "Five francs and you promise to eat everything." 

 

Stefanos pursed his lips for a second before digging down in his jeans pocket, taking out one two franc coin and three one franc coins. 

 

"I promise I'll try and eat everything." 

 

The coins rested in Rafa's palm and he smiled once again, patting his shoulder. 

 

"Good boy, enjoy the food! Maybe it help give you ideas." 

 

He was referring to the other's novel, which had been in the works for two months by then. 

 

Stefanos flashed him a small smile, "We can always hope. I'll see you tomorrow." 

 

With that, he left to walk back to his flat. 

 

Sascha had still been staring at him through all of that, even though Domi was talking to him. All he'd been saying was 'yeah' or merely humming in response.

 

"Earth to Sascha," Domi spoke, finally getting his attention again before glancing in the same direction that Stef had been. "What were you looking at?"

 

"No one-" Sascha already messed it up. "Nothing, I meant nothing. Just...y'know." 

 

Domi raised an eyebrow in response, slowly nodding his head before finishing up his breakfast. 

 

"Well, anyway, I have to get to work." 

 

Sascha looked at the time, realising he would have to clock in for his waiting shift in ten minutes. 

 

"I'll see you later then, if you're free tonight?" 

 

"Of course, Kiki is in France right now so I'll be free every night until she gets back." Domi stood and brushed his shirt off, should any crumbs have fallen onto it. Sascha simple said 'okay', giving him a short handshake and a wave. 

 

Domi thanked Rafa as he was walking out, starting his brief journey to the animal shelter that sat about two minutes away. 

 

Roger and his children were finishing up their meals as well, Charlene and Myla eager to go to Bern on a previously promised shopping trip. They were at the age of wanting to have clothing not picked out by their parents- or at least not their dad- and Roger agreed to take them.

 

He had to get Leo and Lenny clothing as well, but they were easy to shop for. All Roger was expecting from his daughters was to be pulled from every shop imaginable in search of the perfect clothes. 

 

"Is everyone finished?" Roger asked, looking from the side his daughters were sitting to where his sons were. All four of the nodded their heads, so he smiled. "Alright then, are we ready to go to the shop?" 

 

All of them excitedly nodded, Myla and Charlene jumped out of their chairs to quickly go outside. Roger didn't worry about it, since the town had always been so safe. They never went far anyway. 

 

Roger paid for their meals, although he didn't have to, thanking Rafa as he always did before walking outside to catch up with his daughters; Lenny and Leo trailing behind him. 

 

Nick, Alex and Andrey all finished their meal and left a few francs on the table as tips. They left at the same time, Nick eventually breaking away from the group to walk to the train stop on the main road. 

 

Alex walked to Nico's clothing shop, talking to Andrey along the way since his apartment was in the same direction. 

 

"We still on for tonight?" Andrey asked as they stood outside of the shop, Alex twirling his key ring on his index finger as he nodded.

 

"Definitely, I'll see you then." 

 

Andrey gave him a pat on the shoulder before walking down the rest of the street to his apartment. 

 

Alex clocked in for his shift inside. 

 

Meanwhile, Kyle was down by the lake, writing down all sorts of data in a notebook. He stood beside a barometer and a thermometer, recording the morning's barometric pressure and temperature. 

 

It was quite breezy that day as well, nearly fifteen kilometres per hour. 

 

Kevin joined him, seeing as he was the main nature consultant for the area. They got along well, since their work practically went hand in hand. 

 

Grigor opened up the pub, polishing off glasses and wiping down tables. It was the daily routine, but it was one he was content with. 

 

By around ten, everyone had gone on with their lives, some leaving town for leisure and some going to their jobs. Andrey and Alex met up at the Aussie's flat for video games, same for Sascha and Domi.

 

The sleepy little town became a little more awake, people coming and going from restaurants and shops as they wished. Grocery shopping, picking up a present for family, so much happened, yet so little did at the same time.  

 

Many yearned for something bigger, perhaps something better.

 

Lungern was a town without change, because nothing needed to be changed. 

 

It was home to so many, but seemed to have so few.

 

Night fell and the citizens went back home to whoever was waiting for them. Girlfriends, boyfriends, wives, husbands, children and pets. Maybe no one at all.  

 

So many yearned change, but no one wanted the change to come. 

 

At least, not in the way it did.


	2. Guess God Thinks I'm Abel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you lot enjoy this chapter xx

 

For some reason, Stan couldn't sleep. 

 

He tossed and turned the entire night, until he finally looked at his clock to see that it was approaching six in the morning. A groan fell past his lips. 

 

Sitting up, he looked around his pitch black room before reaching over and turning on his bedside lamp. 

 

Perhaps a jog would tire him out a bit. An hour of sleep is better than none, after all. 

 

Stan threw his legs over the side of the bed, standing up and walking to the closet. A pair of sweatpants, a t-shirt and a jacket would do just fine. By the sound of it, the rain had lightened up as well. 

 

Within five minutes he was dressed and out the door, leaving his earbuds and phone at home to enjoy the surrounding nature. The lake had a tendency to make light waves during that time, especially since it was extremely windy. 

 

Wind blowing through the trees, small waves crashing onto rocky coastline of a lake of almost unreal blue hues all filled his ears as the sound of his shoes against the pavement disappeared. It didn't tire him out much, but it was certainly a pleasant experience. 

 

Not a single soul was out at that hour, hardly even a light on in any houses aside from one. Nick's flat. 

 

It was typical, however, he was up at all hours of the day. 

 

If every day could start like this, Stan was sure he could die next month and still be content. Despite being originally from Lausanne, he found the home he never had there in Lungern. 

 

Being nearly fully around the perimeter of the lake, he slowed down a bit when something caught his eye a few yards ahead. From that distance, even squinting, he couldn't make it out. 

 

The street lights had shut off by then, as the sun was just barely breaking through the surrounding mountains. 

 

Stan slowly walked up, glancing around to see if anyone else was around. No one, not a single person. 

 

When he got only a few steps away, he realised that it was-

 

It was a person.

 

Stan furrowed his brows a bit at the very thought, hesitating to even get closer; but he did anyway. 

 

When he was standing beside the person, of whom was on their side, he bent down to get a closer look. 

 

It was so difficult to see in that darkness, but he recognised the almost strawberry blonde hair, yet he couldn't quite put his finger on where he'd seen it. 

 

Then it hit him. 

 

Hard.

 

It was Andrey. 

 

Stan touched his arm, feeling a slight rigidness and how cool he was. Not cold, but very, very cool. His hair was dripping with rain, his jacket was soaked and he wasn't moving. 

 

Not one inch. 

 

The Swiss didn't even panic at first, giving him a slight shake. It had to just be something incredibly strange. 

 

It had to be, there wasn't another explanation. 

 

Still, he didn't move, and now Stan was wishing he'd brought his phone. 

 

Once again, he tried to give him a slightly harder shake. 

 

"Andrey," He quietly whispered, only talking to the other. "Andrey." 

 

He prayed to God that he would just get up. Have a bit of a laugh and say 'I got you!', but there was a sinking feeling in his chest that gave him the grim suspicion that such a thing wasn't the case at all. 

 

"Oh my god." Was all he could truly say, his eyes widening as he immediately stood and took a step away. 

 

Andrey was only twenty-one, and here he was, dead on the pavement. His phone was on the ground, although the screen was broken, and Stan had to stop himself from picking it up. Now was not the time to be contaminating evidence. 

 

So, he bolted to the closest house, knocking on the door loudly until someone came down and answered. It was Mate. 

 

"Mate-"

 

"God, Stan, it's kind of early-"

 

"No, listen-"

 

"This had better be good-"

 

"Shut up and listen to me, damn it! Call the police, now, I'm not kidding!" Stan raised his voice, only now getting somewhat frantic as the situation settled in. 

 

"Calm down, what happened?" Mate actually tried to calm him a bit, not wanting to rush anything should this just be some sort of fluke. 

 

"Andrey's dead and I- I don't know how but he is." 

 

Mate's eyes widened visibly, stepping away to get to his landline. He phoned the police, the girl on the phone promising to be there within ten minutes or less. 

 

When he got off the phone, they both ran back to where Andrey was and the sun had finally begun to rise. It much clearer to see the damage that had been done, a horrendous bruise on the young man's temple. His cheek was scraped up, but his eyes were, thankfully, closed. 

 

Stan was too scared to touch him again, he stayed at least five feet away until he finally heard a police car coming. The siren wasn't as loud as it normally was, but he was beginning to hear static. His hands were shaking as the policewoman got out of her car. Her first priority was the body. 

 

It was Lieutenant Belinda Bencic, the same woman who always dealt with the parking violations around the town. 

 

Mate waved her over, Belinda walking quickly to him and kneeling down. She checked his vitals, taking out a flashlight to get a closer look at him. 

 

The only signs of an injury, aside from the likely defensive cuts and scrapes from hitting the ground, was the blood in his hair and the large bruise that Stan had spotted before. 

 

She had to confirm the worst. 

 

"I'm so sorry," Belinda gently spoke, frowning a bit as she stood up, "You two did your best, but he's been gone for around five hours." 

 

Stan took in a sharp inhale, covering his eyes with his hand as he turned away. Mate didn't know Andrey very well, but he couldn't help but feel incredibly upset. 

 

While he didn't know him well, he knew him nonetheless. He'd heard him talking just the day before about going back to Russia to see his sister, nieces and nephews. 

 

Andrey had gone to his restaurant to work on his translations, and he always tipped extremely well. 

 

He was nothing but a well-mannered, polite, kind young man. 

 

Belinda was back in her car, phoning in what happened. Stan just barely picked up the word 'homicide', and it terrified him. 

 

The once gentle, soothing sound of waves had turned into shrieks and crashes, finding himself becoming faint. Belinda seemed to notice and was quick to rush over, grabbing his arm. 

 

"Sit down, sit down," She instructed, guiding him to take a seat on the pavement, "Breathe slowly, focus on that, okay?"

 

Stan nodded in response, trying to take the advice. 

 

It was going to be another fifteen minutes until the necessary authorities and equipment came to take care of the scene. 

 

Mate left briefly, grabbing a banana from his kitchen and bringing it back out; giving it to Stan. Although he wasn't hungry, he knew fully that he would pass out if he didn't eat it. 

 

So he did, but the nausea and faintness didn't go away entirely. 

 

A few other people left their house, seeing the flashing lights of the police car and asking Belinda what happened. She couldn't say immediately, seeing as it was an active scene, but Nick came along while on the phone. 

 

He didn't ask what happened, he demanded to know. 

 

"You can't just fucking drive up and not say what's goin' on, lady," Nick spoke, unintentionally harsh but also wanting answers. He was on the phone to Alex who was already on his way, since he lived closer to the edge of the lake. 

 

Belinda tried to calm him down, insisting that he would find out when the rest of the team got there. 

 

It wasn't good enough, and by then, Alex had arrived; asking the same question. 

 

Only she didn't have to tell him that he would find out soon, because he saw Andrey out of the corner of his eye initially. He didn't fully see, however, discarding his conversation and the policewoman telling him that it's not a good idea to walk closer. 

 

Alex confirmed it was Andrey, but he felt entirely oblivious to the situation. 

 

"Andrey?" He seemed to ask, almost daring to get any closer. 

 

"Alex- don't," Stan quickly spoke as he tried to get his attention, which worked but only for a moment. Alex tensed up a bit, taking a few steps back. 

 

He didn't speak. 

 

Nick looked incredibly confused, taking only one step towards him before Alex turned around; shaking his head. Belinda didn't try to stop him, the frown on her face before not having a chance to leave. 

 

The older Aussie quickly followed his friend, asking what happened. Whatever he responded with, no one else could hear. 

 

After what seemed like hours, the rest of the team arrived. Belinda took the time to get Stan back to his house, reassuring him that she'd stay if he needed anything. 

 

News spread like wildfire and within the hour, everyone in town knew what happened. 

 

Everyone. 

 

By nine o'clock, people had already decided to keep their businesses closed for the day and even keep their kids home. The town was on edge, likely due in part to the official police report that clearly stated that it was a murder. 

 

No such thing had ever happened in Lungern before, but it happened. 

 

It was no dream, no joke, no nothing except for very true reality. 

 

 

Belinda was the one who had to help pick Andrey up, which wasn't entirely difficult since he wasn't carrying dead weight yet. She was somewhat distracted by the surprisingly peaceful expression on his face. 

 

She'd never come across a homicide victim with such a calm look. 

 

A few policemen were looking for evidence, but there was nothing at all. No weapon, no clues, nothing. Whoever carried the act out did it without leaving anything behind. 

 

By eleven, everyone was gone, only a faint mark of blood on the pavement that the rain had already begun washing away. 

 

No one was out in the streets, and for the few people that had braved the situation to leave the house, they were gathered at Rafa's restaurant as the other two places in town were closed. 

 

They got tea and rusks, as well as meals if they were able to eat. Only five people were there: Sascha, Kevin, Karen, Denis and Marcelo. 

 

Juan had been there earlier but left to go back to the church, as he said he wasn't feeling well. In passing, to Karen, he mentioned that something simply wasn't right in the town. 

 

Yet, he couldn't put his finger on what. 

 

Most people just tried to carry on as best they could, talking and attempting to breach the topic that would inevitably come up. 

 

Even Rafa couldn't bring himself to force a smile, he felt absolutely heartbroken. 

 

Marcelo sat at the table with the other four people there, all of them trying to keep the conversation lighthearted. Denis still had the remnants of tears left on his face, eyes red as he hardly touched the food he'd been given. Karen and Kevin forced themselves to eat at least two rusks, but Sascha didn't even attempt. 

 

Dead silence eventually fell over the normally noisy room, everyone far too gloomy to muster a word. 

 

Then the door opened. 

 

Only Marcelo looked over to see who came in, and he was a bit surprised when Marin walked in. He didn't know he'd come back, taking the time to stand up and walk over.

 

"Marin, when did you get back?" Marcelo asked, occasionally glancing to his table as he stood beside the Croat. 

 

"Two hours ago," Marin quite dully answered. It was obvious he knew what had happened. 

 

"I don't understand why everyone is so surprised, I said this would happen."

 

Marcelo blinked a few times, looking at Marin again as if he were crazy. Being the local soothsayer came with quite a number of questionable things, but that was something he didn't expect. 

 

"What are you on about?" 

 

"I told Andrey, I told David. I told Roger. I told  _everyone_. I told everyone that this was going to happen but no one believed me." 

 

"You say a lot of stuff, Marin-" 

 

Marin looked at Marcelo with a look that he couldn't read. He shook his head slightly. 

 

"No one ever believes me."

 

Honestly, Marcelo felt bad for him because he was right. No one listened to him anymore and everyone just chalked him up to some crazy man that wanted to get attention. 

 

Marin turned around to leave, seeing no point in trying to talk with anyone. He paused briefly, seeming to think for a handful of seconds. 

 

"The renovations on Nico's shop." 

 

"What about them?"

 

"What are they replacing?"

 

"Water pipes, I think." 

 

Marin slowly nodded his head before leaving without saying another word. It didn't strike Marcelo as too odd, considering the person in question.

 

It did, however, leave a slightly bad taste in his mouth that unsettled him far more than he would've liked. 

 

If Marin had told everyone this was going to happen, why didn't he remember that? 

 

Marcelo pondered it for a moment, swallowing thickly before grabbing his jacket from the back of his chair. 

 

"I'll be back later." 

 

With that, he simply left to find the person he thought would remember it.

 

David. 

 

 

Since school was cancelled for that day, Marcelo found David at home with his girlfriend. He knocked on the door a few times and waited until the Belgian opened up, which he did quite quickly. 

 

"Marcelo, hi." He greeted him, though not enthusiastically. 

 

"Hey, could-" Marcelo took a step back, waving him to come outside. "Could I talk to you for a minute?"

 

David nodded his head and stepped out, closing the door behind him, "What's wrong?"

 

"Did Marin ever mention anything about someone dying, or being murdered here recently?" 

 

David had to think about it, trailing his gaze down to the ground before looking back up at Marcelo. 

 

"Actually, he did a few months ago. He told me that...I believe he said something about half a dozen people dying. Just told me to watch my back or I'd be one of them." 

 

That freaked Marcelo out somewhat, because that meant that there was a chance that Marin wasn't lying. 

 

"Did he say how?" 

 

"He did, but I can't really remember. The only two I remember was someone being shot and another bleeding to death, but that's all." David shrugged his shoulders, clearly not as unnerved by it as Marcelo. To him, it was just Marin being- well, slightly odd Marin. 

 

"Okay, sorry for bothering you." Marcelo backed off of the topic by then. "I'll see you around." 

 

David waved a bit before turning on his heels and going back inside, Marcelo standing in the same spot to process what he'd just learned. 

 

He was never one for superstition, but this was a whole different level of strange. 

__

 

 

Alex sat on his bed, Nick on his desk chair as the younger of the two came down from his rage-filled grief. He'd gone from angry to crying, blaming himself for what happened. 

 

"Alex, you know that you didn't do anything wrong, right?" Nick asked, genuinely not sure if his friend was aware of that. 

 

"I did everything wrong, I should've walked home with him." Alex spoke through his hands, not wanting to show his shame to the other. Nick frowned at that, shaking his head.

 

"You've got it all wrong, man," He insisted as he shifted the chair closer, "You think Andrey would want you sitting here, blaming yourself?" 

 

Alex shook his head, briefly moving his hands to wipe his tears with his sleeve. He knew for a fact Andrey would be angry with him if he was thinking it was his fault, but he just couldn't help but feel guilty. 

 

Andrey would've known how to make him feel better. 

 

The tears started flowing again. Nick had been keeping all his emotions internalised, but seeing Alex like this was making it extremely difficult. 

 

He scooted closer and opened his arms, allowing Alex to hug him. A small tear even managed to escape from Nick's eye as he rubbed soothing circles into his friend's back. 

 

Nothing Nick could say would make Alex feel better, and he didn't honestly expect them to. He just knew he had to try something. 

 

That was all he could think to do. 

__

 

 

Roger invited Sascha to his house, thinking the company would do him good. He also offered for Mischa to come, but he declined like he always did. 

 

The older Zverev seemed to be reclusive as of late, but he didn't know why. 

 

Sascha had dinner with them ( though he only ate about a third of it ) and mostly spoke to Mirka, since Roger was trying to convince his kids to eat their vegetables. 

 

"If you don't eat the broccoli, then you won't be as tall as Sascha." Roger said to Leo and Lenny, pointing over to the tallest person at the table. 

 

Sascha looked over with a nod. "He's right, y'know, I ate all of my vegetables."

 

Leo looked at him with the sparkling eyes that every child seemed to possess. "Really?"

 

"Totally!" Sascha exclaimed, turning to face him fully. "Broccoli, carrots, spinach, everything." 

 

Even though Leo didn't like broccoli much, he ate them after being encouraged by the young man. 

 

"Thanks, Sascha." Roger smiled at him, getting a much smaller, duller one from the younger. 

 

"No problem." 

 

Mirka finished her food, wiping her mouth before standing, taking the plates of whoever had finished eating by then. She walked over, rinsing them off in the sink and loading them into the dishwasher. 

 

"Are you staying the night, Sascha?" Mirka asked from the kitchen, glancing over at him. 

 

"No, Mischa's expecting me tonight so I'd better go," Sascha shook his head a bit as he stood, pushing his chair back in, "Thanks for the meal though." 

 

"It's my pleasure, you can come whenever you want, okay?" 

 

Sascha smiled momentarily before nodding, walking over to give her a hug. "I appreciate it." 

 

Mirka gave him a light pat on the back before pulling away, going back to the dishes. Roger also stood up to give him a hug, as did Lenny, Leo, Charlene and Myla. 

 

All four of them loved Sascha. 

 

"I'll see you little ones tomorrow." Sascha chuckled as he ruffled their hair, waving to Roger before walking out of the dining room and out the door. 

 

The air was incredibly cold, enough to make a hard shiver wrack his body. He'd only brought a light jacket, so he would have to brave the cold. 

 

Luckily for him, the walk home was only five minutes. Thus, the journey began. 

 

Somehow, it was still pouring down rain, harder than it had been all week. Sascha walked under the street lights, fixing his gaze ahead as he tried to ignore how on edge he was.

 

His gait was faster than usual, especially as he approached the spot where a dead body had been that morning. Only, there were flowers there. 

 

Sascha slowed down to a halt as he reached the bouquets of flowers, staring at them for a moment. The whole area felt heavy, almost making it difficult to breathe. 

 

He crouched down for a moment, reaching out to run his fingertips across the pavement. He lingered, closing his eyes as if just taking it in. 

 

There was something incredibly strange there, but he didn't know what. 

 

Sascha pulled his hand away and stood back up, trading his walk in for a jog. He made it home within a minute and a half. 

 

Evgenija was on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket and watching some bad reality television. She was upset, and that was what she always did when she was upset. 

 

Sascha refrained from asking, since he already had a decent idea of what was wrong.  

 

He quietly made his way upstairs, getting to his room and being greeted by Lövik once he opened the door. Sascha picked him up and pressed a few kisses to his soft, furry little head. 

 

At least he had Lövik, one of the few things in his life that kept him sane. 

 

He sat on his bed, setting Lövik down beside him as he laid down; staring up at the ceiling. 

 

 _What happens when we die?_ He wondered, slowly closing his eyes as he thought. 

 

 

_What happens when we die?_

**Author's Note:**

> this was just kind of an introduction, but i hope you lot enjoyed it xx


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